Monday, September 7, 2015

My Orphan Book

In 2008, I signed a six-book
contract with Bell Bridge Books, a small but thriving publishing company based
in Memphis, Tennessee. Moonstone, the first book in the
Unbidden Magic series, introduced my protagonist, Allie Emerson. It took five books to wrap up Allie’s story.

I had one more book to write. I decided to
explore a subject I’d been mulling over for a long time, namely, a teen-age boy
living in an all male household who is suddenly forced to parent his infant
daughter while finishing his senior year in high school. And, wouldn’t it fun
to throw in a little magic along the way?

It took me nine months to
write Baby Gone Bye. Yep, the same
amount of time it takes to produce an actual baby. With some helpful
suggestions from my editor, Pat Van Wie, I was happy with the end result.So, how did my book become an orphan?

First of all, it was released
between Thanksgiving and Christmas, a time period I soon discovered is the dead
zone for book sales. More importantly, it was not part of a series, and my loyal
readers expected more than one book with my new characters. Sadly, my contract
was not continued, so that was not possible. The book garnered good reviews,
but sales were less than impressive.

Why am I re-hashing ancient
history? Because, I just discovered Baby
Gone Bye is on sale for $.99 at Amazon and will be for several more weeks.
I’m hoping to introduce new readers to hunky teen father Gabe Delgado and his
precocious baby girl, Birdie. I promise you interesting characters, exciting
plot twists, a teen romance and a satisfying conclusion.